Another possibility would be html2mobi. Use mobi2html to explode the existing version and html2mobi to recreate it with author etcetera. However, this requires Perl under Windows, and, in addition, when I tried mobi2html it extracted the html but did not completely "explode" the file (i.e. I don't think mobi2html followed by html2mobi currently replicates the original). This approach is in principle viable though. We just need a Perl on Windows "expert" to get us started.

What was missing in the explosion? I think I added a flag to fix the links. In the raw explosion the filepos tags are there. I am very interested in fixing the scripts so it works well.

And if anybody tells me if something need to be fixed for it working under Windows I will fix it.

Since author information is meta informaion in the MOBI header is trivial to fix a script that just add author or other meta information. I will try to fix such a script tomorrow. I think it is easy to convert from version 3 and 4 if needed also.

What was missing in the explosion? I think I added a flag to fix the links. In the raw explosion the filepos tags are there. I am very interested in fixing the scripts so it works well.

How it it supposed to be used? Normally, an explosion program writes into a new directory but all I see in this case is:

Quote:

mobi2html file1.mobi > file2.html

When I try this on Ring of Fire from Baen's Free Library, I first create a subdirectory and then run the command from that directory. The result is lots of records and a html file. When I open the HTML file the TOC does not work and there are no images. The TOC is at the end of the HTML file, but it contains links that refer to the full file path and the wrong filename:

Code:

file:///C: ... /Flint_RingOfFire/074347175X__p_.htm#Chap_15

Note that the HTML filename is not 074347175X__p_.htm.

The best test of mobi2html is that it will regenerate a copy of the mobi file (more or less) when used as input for html2mobi. I can't test this because I can't find the GD package needed by html2mobi. I have no idea if I am installing Perl on Windows optimally, but so far I have had to manually find nearly every package used by the scripts. I am using ActivePerl and its package manager, which needs the name of the package to install it.

Since author information is meta informaion in the MOBI header is trivial to fix a script that just add author or other meta information. I will try to fix such a script tomorrow. I think it is easy to convert from version 3 and 4 if needed also.

This would be great. Particularly if you can include the names of the needed packages as comments in the perl script. The "use" lines are often not sufficient to identify the package involved.

That's lovely. I also appreciate how well-formatted the books are on your site. Sadly many of the books I've downloaded, even from here at Mobileread, don't have the metadata set correctly. Tables of contents are usually good here but it's pretty problematic accross the sites I've been to. The books I've seen from your site so far have all been good. Do you have a catalog with links in mobi format available? I know it would be changing all the time, but it would be way quicker to search and download from that rather than browsing the site.

Concerning a catalog: we might add this in the future. But first, we'll do a mobile version of the website that'll be much easier to use on the Kindle. I'm glad that you've had a nice experience so far with all the books downloaded on Feedbooks, we're really trying to create good looking books with our technology, and we'll keep on improving the overall experience (expect covers for example).

That would probably be even better. As it is, the site doesn't work too well on the Kindle currently. Searching didn't seem to work right and the spacing takes up a lot of screens. I'd be thrilled. The quality of your books are the best I've found so far.

I have no idea if I am installing Perl on Windows optimally, but so far I have had to manually find nearly every package used by the scripts. I am using ActivePerl and its package manager, which needs the name of the package to install it.

On unix system I do "perl -MCPAN -e shell" and then search for packages with "i GD" or "i /GD/" which give me that "install GD" should work. But it is a good suggestion to document exactly what extra packages are needed. I will do that.

Is the author informaion working on this file on the Kindle? I noticed that this file was a PalmDOC file and not a MobiPocket file but FBReader displayed the author information and it seems to take it from the metainformation in the header in the HTML file. But as I understand it you can also specify author information in the extended header in the MobiPocket format so what method should you use for it to work on many devices?

It seems that this file and the Baen file (Ring of Fire) is in PalmDOC format. So is it correct that BD cannot generate MobiPocket files and what it does is take a HTML file marked up with MobiPocket specific markup and just packs it in PalmDOC format?

I have written a Perl program that add author information to a PalmDOC file by converting it to a MobiPocket file. But my Palm MobiPocket reader does not seem to display this information so I cannot test it. So if anybody could confirm that the files below works and that the author is displayed correctly it would be helpful.

Should be very nice on the Kindle: just add this file to your device and you get an easy access to all of the contents on Feedbooks. Guess we'll do something similar for RSS feeds once we start generating Mobipocket files for them too.

Charles Wilkes wrote:
> This is wonderful -- I really don't want to buy a DRM pub from the
> Kindle Store at all. I understand that Bezos had to agree to that even
> though intellectually he is totally opposed to it. But it's started
> now, and when the will of the buyers becomes apparent, things will
> change. Just look at what happened to music publishers due to the
> Ipod, etc.
>
> So make the best you can so that we buyers can just go there and get the
> same service that the Kindle Store provides. I don't mind paying 10
> cents to have it sent to my Kindle direct, but I also want a copy to my
> email address so that I have a complete backup on my hard drive --
> Kindle will backup- only items they originally sold, so we are on our
> own re everything else.
>
> Kindle does offer something else not covered here. That is the ability
> to publish whatever you want (that is reasonable of course). I don't
> want my pubs to go out with DRM restrictions, so I would like to see
> this feature duplicated by whatever is replacing DRMs.
>
> Charles Wilkes

> I used industrial strength Velcro to attach my Kindle to the book case
> that came with it. But to do this right, I had to cut off the two
> things at the top and bottom of the inside in order that the Kindle go
> clear inside the cover as far as possible. Now the outside edge of the
> Kindle is inside the outside edge of the book cover, protecting the next
> page switch from accidental pressings when picking the Kindle up, or
> handling it in the way it must to use it to read with page turning.
> Also my Kindle is now safe from accidentally falling out of the Book
> Cover.
>
> I think Velcro is the only solution to really attach the Kindle to any
> Book Cover -- no matter how well designed.
>
> Charles Wilkes, San Jose, Calif.